Queen of Pages
by Good Question
Summary: Kel/Roald. Starts with Page. Lots of highlight on our neglected characters! A more romantic spin on the series, while staying true to the original plot in the book. Sort of. After all, Tamora Pierce left much unsaid. On hold b/c can't find my book!
1. Hello

**A/N: **First shot at a story in this fandom. I've been a fan of the books, specially the PotS series, but I've never really been in the fandom. I've written fanfiction before, but this is my first try here. So I apologize in advance if some characters seem a little off, especially when in the books they don't get much highlight as it is.

Some quick facts about the story. Set during Page, probably run into Squire and Lady Knight. Filling in the gaps, staying true to the plot line, but with my peppering in it. It's going to be Kel/Roald, with lots of highlighting on our favorite ignored characters.

**Chapter 1: **Hello

Kel groaned as she pushed herself slowly up from the ground, her arms shaking with the effort. She blew air out between her clenched teeth as she straightened her arms and locked them, wondering if she had done enough of her exercises to make up for her laziness the night before. She had to do something to keep her moving, admitted she was at ease in solitude but after awhile, anyone would go stir crazy. At the very least, tonight would be the last night of waiting. Kel had arrived a few days before most of the pages would be making their way back to the palace, but the rest had to return by tonight, or at least tomorrow morning, after all, tomorrow their second year officially started. She had yet to see Neal or any of her other friends, other than the Prince of course, and hoped that she would see them at the evening meal, after the new pages had all received their sponsors. The idea had been brought by her, if she would sponsor a page or not, but she had decided against it. It was already tough enough being The Girl, but she couldn't imagine what type of reputation killer it would give to whomever she chose to sponsor.

She stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, pushing the bangs that were stuck against it back. Her hair had grown out almost to her shoulders since she last cut it, she made a mental note to get that done as soon as possible. Kel rolled her shoulders back, feeling them pop and crunch loudly as she stripped her clothes off, stepping into the bath she had let cool. The autumn was far too hot for a boiling bath, even if her aching muscles would have greatly appreciated it, she'd rather not be red and burned once she stepped out.

She soaked in her bath until it had turned completely cold, the sun already starting to set, meaning the bell was about to ring for their last meal of the day. For a second Kel contemplated not going, she was quite comfortable, and because the year had yet to start she was not required to be in attendance at the meal, and no one would care if she were to show up late, except for maybe the cooks. After a few more minutes of idling she scrubbed herself thoroughly clean and stood up out of her bath and dried herself off. She had already left out the dress she was to wear, a cream color with the edges embroidered with green thread, and simply shook out her hair to get it dry. If it weren't for the harsh training you could almost call her life simpler than any other girls.

She stepped out of her door and locked it behind her, not making it further than a turn around before she felt a punch at her shoulder. She turned around to face a head full of bright red hair. "Kel!"

Kel smiled, "Welcome back."

Merric shrugged and leaned back, puffing his chest out a bit, "I wouldn't know about that. I'd rather be at home if it's all the same." He had arrived only a few hours before, and after checking to see if any of his other friends had arrived, he had only managed to find Kel, not that he minded, after all, she was all right in his books now that he didn't have to worry about embarrassing rescues by The Girl, the fact that he had grown to think of her as a friend helped.

"I'm assuming your summer went well then," she said as the two of them began to walk towards the dinning hall.

"Hot and stuffy, but at least if I avoided the right people I'd get around to having some snoozing time," he said with a grin, "my father stressed the point that I need to keep up my training a little too much for comfort."

Kel hid a grin, her own brothers had helped her with her summer training as well, even if she hadn't felt the need to be forced into it. "Do you know when Faleron will be arriving?" she asked, remembering that they were of the same family.

"He should already be here actually," Merric commented as they entered the hall that led to the dinning room, there they would wait for the pages to gather until all the new arrivals had a sponsor, after that they would be allowed to eat.

Cleon found the two of them after some searching, bidding a quick farewell to the friends he had been talking to in his year, spotting Kel and knowing while he couldn't make her run errands for him anymore, he could still have fun teasing her, trying to see if he could manage to get some type of reaction out of her, he could consider himself accomplished if he did, it brought him a level of glee he hadn't managed to experience before.

"Who should be here? Kel! My pearl, the sunshine in my day, my summer days have been so dark and empty without you there to warm them up for me," Kel turned around to see Cleon giving her a mock bow.

"I'm sure you had a candle or two to keep you company," Merric said as he elbowed Cleon, making him wince and stand up, the two boys tussling around for a bit.

"Ruffians! The lot of you," a husky voice exclaimed from behind them. "Barbarians, I had hoped that your families might've beaten it out of you through the summer months."

Neal stepped next to Kel and bumped her slightly as a hello, both opting not to choose a more affectionate hello, despite being best friends. "Too much brain and no brawn makes quite the wimp of a man, almost a woman," Faleron commented, stepping out of the crowd, "and I believe I should've been here, and seeing as I am, all is well."

The boys exchanged greetings and swapped small stories as they waited for the new pages to arrive. The doors creaked open and they hushed, a line of shy looking boys, many sneaking wide eyed glances at each other, swallowing nervously, many of them staring at her once they noticed that she was wearing a dress, and no one else was, not that anyone else would be. Lord Wyldon walked in after them, letting the giant doors shut with a loud bang that sent the first years almost running up the walls, all but one, a plump boy, who stood with more wonder of his face than anything.

"Name and fief, and we will have a senior page be appointed to you to show you around the grounds," Lord Wyldon said, his voice echoing off the walls. He pointed to the first boy in line.

"Owen of Jesslaw!" the boy bellowed out, a big grin on his face. There was a small pause as the older pages contemplated before a voice rang out from the back of the group. "I will sponsor him." The crowd parted to show Prince Roald. Kel hadn't even noticed him joining the knot of pages, but that wasn't a big surprise to her, he disliked attention. She was impressed however, by the nonchalant manner that the boy walked up to the prince.

She forgot him just as quickly as he had spoken up, turning back to watch the selection of the next pages. Neal, Cleon, and Merric also stepped forward and chose to sponsor a boy each. Just as her stomach was about to start protesting in most unmannerly ways, the selection was over and the doors to the dinning hall were opened. The mass of boys rushed forward, all hungry and wanting to get started. Prince Roald held his sponsored page back as he waited for the mass of boys to pass and for Kel and her group to walk up.

"Your highness," she said with a bow, almost having curtsied but remembering that just because she wore a dress didn't mean she had to slip into other habits, she would only get picked on.

The prince smiled, "Glad to see you back." And the prince was quite glad to see her back.

"Let's gooo, we can catch up later," Merric said as he attempted to push Neal and Cleon forward to try and rush into the hall. The prince gave a half nod to Kel and smiled, before turning and walking in with the rest of the group, listening to Owen's chants of 'Food! Food! Food!' They sat down at a table in the back, where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone, Kel listening more than talking, but that was usual. Owen did much the same, with much more outburst on his part.

"So, Nealan, did you romance yourself any new women over the summer," Cleon teased as conversation had turned to Daine, one that Neal glumly tried to avoid.

"Actually yes," Neal said with a huff, diving into his food with vigor.

"Yes, but there's a difference between you drooling after her and her knowing you exist," one of the new pages said, surprising everyone by talking but getting the intended laugh out of them anyway. Kel smiled into her soup as Neal sputtered.

"And to think I tried to be kind and sponsor you!" he said with dramatics.

"You probably did him more harm than good," Kel pointed out, "it does not do well to be sponsored by someone at the bottom of Lord Wyldon's list."

Neal huffed and grinned at her, "Oh but my fair lady, you are wrong. You've managed to free me of my position, I've moved up a rank!"

The boys laughed and Kel shook her head, but was grinning nonetheless. The prince turned to look at her, rarely talking himself, especially now because he felt that if he opened his mouth the entire hall might silence itself. She truly was a welcomed change, and not because she was pleasant to talk to, but she was iconic, and her well doing was almost as diplomatically important as his concern for her as a friend was. It was a nice change to talk to a girl who didn't treat him differently, or at least tried her best not to.

Kel looked up as she felt eyes on her, tilting her head in question but Roald just shook his head. "You've grown again," he commented simply, "soon enough you'll be taller than Cleon." She made a face and turned to look at Cleon, who had stopped to stare at them once he heard his name.

"Oh gods I hope not," she said with a good natured smile, leaving Cleon confused. Although, she had to wonder why he would bring that up to notice, but he hadn't been the first one to do so.

Later during the meal, Esmond of Nicoline joined them, having arrived a little later; he dropped into the offered seat with a grateful sigh, barely muttering a hello before diving into his food. Kel listened to their chatter for a bit longer before excusing herself, Neal offering to get up and go with her, she shook her head and told him she was leaving a bit earlier because she did not have to show younger pages around. She bid them goodnight and returned to her room, crawling into bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

**A/N: **I gave it a try. It hasn't been betaed or proof-read, mine never will be. English is my third language so I don't expect perfection out of myself. This is where I begin, because I notice the night before the start of the book, and the selection of the pages was never covered in the book. And I feel I should give some light to the poor boys that were sponsored but never talked about again. Other than Owen.


	2. Late

**A/N: **This one was a little harder to start. Seeing as the first few chapters actually leave very few empty spots to fill in, and I try not to re-write too much, but change it through the blanks. So I decided to give more from the view of other people in between the events that we only hear Kel's side of.

This particular chapter starts around supper time, after Kel has found Jump and taken Lalasa into her service. And is Lalasa black? I hate the way I have to read in between the lines in this novel. As far as I've picked up the Yamani are Asians, Bazhir are Arabs, Scancrans are like your… northerners, like European northerners. Just wondering what everyone else picked up about it.

**Chapter 2: **Late

Neal groaned in his bed as he heard a knock on his door. He had just dropped down onto it, the heat making him lazy and unwilling to get up, even if the hard training hadn't started yet. He ran his thin hand through his hair, ruffling it out at the tip of the widow's peak.

"Neal! Let's go, we're gonna be late for lunch," Merric yelled through the door, banging on it again.

"If you don't come out in a bit we might just run the door down," Cleon added, his voice muffled by the wood.

Neal glared at his friends from his bed before rolling sideways, letting his knees drop down to the ground first with a thud, gathering himself up and slouching his way to the door and opening it. "No thank you, this place is horrible enough without such a trashy addition to the décor."

Cleon glared at him and cuffed Neal over the head. They tussled with each other all the way to the mess hall, as they got there Esmond wondering if they should have fetched Kel on the way there, it was close to time for lunch to begin, they could only imagine the horror Lord Wyldon might inflict on her.

"She'll be here soon. I saw her running up the hill, heading to her rooms a few hours ago," Cleon mentioned as they got into line to get their food.

Neal wondered for a moment how he would know that, the only big hill he knew of was nowhere near any place that he would need to be going, but he didn't bring the subject up. Truth be told, Cleon didn't know either why he had been heading that way.

The prince saw the group from the back, showing Owen different ways to get to the mess hall. He looked through them and noticed that his favorite female page was nowhere to be found. He frowned slightly but assumed she was on her way. He stepped in through the doors and fetched his food, glancing around the room only for a fraction before picking out the next table he would seat himself at today. As he began to walk towards a group of third years he felt a tug at his elbow. Owen had freed one hand from his tray.

"Why aren't we going to sit with them?" he asked, not knowing the habits that his sponsor had.

"You're welcome to if you'd like," he said politely, "but I sit with everyone equally." He ended it there, not wanting to explain all the motives he had for it, after all, he didn't want to seem favoring a certain group of people, especially if it involved The Girl, people might say, no matter how irrational it was, that as the Prince he would have eased her way through her training. It was dumb. Being royalty was dumb. But he considered himself mature enough to make the best of his situation.

Instead of going with the pages he had met yesterday, Owen chose to follow his sponsor. As wild as he was, he knew a certain etiquette was to be followed, especially because he didn't know if it was all right for him to sit with them on his own.

The hall waited in muffled anger, pages and squires grumbling as they waited for the last missing page to arrive, many taking pleading glances at Lord Wyldon, praying that maybe this once he would let it pass. Roald hid a sigh as he smiled wryly; Keladry was off to great start.

"I told you we should've fetched her," Esmond hissed across the table at their little group, waiting anxiously for the doors to open. "Now she's got it in for her."

"You worry too much," Neal said loftily, soon after the words left his mouth, the doors opening, Kel entering, and Joren's snippy remark echoing through the quiet hall.

"Page Kelardy. A knight who is tardy costs lives. Report to me when you have eaten," Lord Wyldon declared from his table.

Roald watched her go by and sent a sympathetic smile her way, which she almost missed in her hurry to get her food and seat herself. She gave him a shy smile back, her hand twitched as if it wanted to give him a tiny wave. Kel grabbed her food and wedged herself into her seat, waiting for the prayer to be over, and digging in. She listened to their teasing with a quiet grin, shaking her head into her food.

"Joren's matured quite a bit since we were here last," Neal commented as he sent a glare that could pierce air at the handsome boy's back.

"Who's Joren?" asked one of the younger pages, seated with them once again, not having made any other friends just yet.

"Someone you should avoid," Neal advised with a serious expression.

"If I didn't know better, I think he puts a little too much attention into what Kel is doing," Merric remarked off handedly, not realizing what it sounded like until a small silence had filled their table and Kel had coughed her water back up in her cup. "I'm just saying!"

"If I were you, right about now, I think I would stop talking," Faleron said with a chuckle, his dark eyes glittering with laughter, "I believe if you were in court, about now would be where you invoked your right not to incriminate yourself."

"Yes but we're not in a court room now are we," Merric shot back, trying to cover his blunder.

"We might as well be with Lord Wyldon in charge," Cleon said with a glance over his shoulder.

"Well at least this place has better decoration," Neal remarked, examining their surroundings.

"I think you're a little too worried about palace decoration. Is there something you're trying to tell us?" Esmond asked, eyes wide with mock innocence. Neal flushed and threw the last bits of his roll at him, the roll hitting him squarely in the chest and rolling off to the floor. Esmond was about to retaliate, when Kel spoke up, " Where' Seaver?"

The boys paused for a second and looked around the hall. He was nowhere to be found. Had there been problems in transportation? At least as an older page he didn't have to worry about being lost in the palace if he arrived late, but as far as Kel knew, late arrivals weren't accepted, but then again, that rule may have just been ironed out for her sake.

"He may be arriving late, or he's eating somewhere else," Merric commented, speaking slowly as he tried to think of a good reason for his absence.

"What if he's not coming back this year?" Esmond asked a little alarmed, more so than any of the other pages, much like Neal and Kel, they were closer to each other than anyone else in their group. "I knew he was but I haven't heard from him since summer ended."

Kel shook her head, "I'm sure there's a good reason for it." She had to speak up before her friends let their imagination run too wild.

"It's not like we haven't had late arrivals before, I myself was accepted into this sophisticated pig sty a good few months into the spring year," he mentioned, going back to his food, having brought the topic to a close. The meal went without further big interruptions, Neal teasingly wishing Kel good luck with a wink, and Faleron patting Kel's shoulder as they left her alone to talk to the training master.

"I love not being at the bottom of the list anymore," Neal commented cheerfully as they headed to their rooms to gather the books for the evening.

"You're also not at the top of any," the prince commented, coming up behind them, Owen in tow.

"We can't all be as grandiose as you," Neal shot back with an eye roll and a mock bow. If Roald weren't so polite he might've knocked his head into a wall.

"That's your lot in life tho', never good enough for any lists," Owen commented cheerfully, unaware that he had just saved the prince the agony of having to find a polite retaliation to the comment.

"You need to whip this one into shape," Neal commented dryly, staring down at the plump boy, "I recommend one with at least three thongs."

Roald and the other boys chuckled, Merric elbowing him in the stomach, "You're just bitter because even a no reputation first year has a better reputation than you do."

**A/N: **Am I the only one who also noticed that Seaver isn't mentioned at all until the brawl? I want to figure out a clever way to bring him into the story again, 'cause I figure if he's their friend wouldn't he eat with them? But he's not mentioned at all. Unless I'm like… blind to the word Seaver. O.o

BTW, thongs as far as I know, are what each of the strips on a whip is called, they tie a stone or other rough, heavy object to the end of it on separate strands. Either a tongue or a thong as far as I know. I could be wrong, if you have the actual term for it feel free to tell me. But tongue seemed like a more modern word to use for it so I didn't want to.

Small Edit: I wrote supper instead of lunch. Ooops.

Thank you to the four of you who reviewed.


	3. Favorites

**A/N:** I just now introduced myself to the new stats for the stories, haven't been here in awhile things have changed. I have visitors from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and the Netherlands! I feel so cultured.

Something that might bother you, that you may have already noticed, is that unlike a lot of 'authors' on here, I will not use symbols for breaks in the story, it's what transition words are there for, any fifth grade writer should be able to use them. And if there's a complete stop, well, that's usually a good indicator of where the next chapter should go.

This chapter too, will for the most part be from another persons point of view, it starts right after supper, after Lord Wyldon talked to Kel about her maid and she's leaving to bring Jump to Daine.

**Chapter 3: **Favorites

Roald walked down the hall after supper, for the second time that day having left Kel behind to talk to the training master. She really was off to a great start. As he walked he explained to Owen that right now was individual study time, there was a library, he could stay in his rooms, and he also suggested that he study with their group of friends. Owen nodded, Roald wasn't sure if he had listened or not, and bid him farewell, heading towards his own rooms. He assumed that it meant he would be joining them tonight, but wondered if he could find himself to Neal's room, it wasn't as if the palace was that confusing, even if he was a first year page. Then again, he had an unfair advantage.

He dropped by his own room, taking a magicked key out of his pocket. It wasn't that he necessarily had anyone who wished to do him harm, like Kel had, but as the next in line to the throne, outside of training mishaps every effort was made to keep him safe. Outside his window there was always one guard lurking about, whether he liked it or not. Roald closed his door and went to his window, opening the shutters to let some air, no matter how hot it was, circulate around his room, by the time he returned tonight, the temperature would have cooled down and his room should be pleasant enough. He slung his books under his arm and walked back out, the door automatically locking as he closed it behind him,

"Good evening," he said as he stepped in through Neal's open door, a habit because of the frequent amount of time that Kel spent in the room.

The mess of pages nodded back at him and scooted a bit, to allow more seating room. The area was starting to get crammed, their room's weren't big to begin with, but after a certain amount of people it got almost uncomfortable. One of the three new pages was seated cross-legged on a night stand, the other two on the bed, Neal at his desk, Merric on the floor leaning against the bed, Cleon on a little chair in the corner, Faleron sitting next to him, the two using the small drawer Neal had as a table.

"We're multiplying," he commented with a smile as he took the offered spot on the bed.

"It's not even the type of multiplying that involves gratification," Neal mourned, worried that if he moved the wrong way he might sling his elbow into someone's eye.

"Where's Kel?" Merric asked from the floor, looking up at them, "I can't move on to any of the other problems without working this one out first. Damn chain problems. Chaning."

The boys laughed at his misery before each wondering the same thing, they had been sitting there for a good 10 minutes already, and surely it did not take that long to talk to Lord Wyldon and fetch books, she had done it less time before.

"Oh," Neal remarked, "she's bringing that dog of hers to Daine."

"What dog?" Cleon asked.

"Oh! The ugly one," Merric said in realization before turning to Cleon, "it's really ugly."

"Where'd she get a dog?" Cleon asked puzzled, pages weren't allowed pets.

As the boys chattered about Roald smiled to himself, Kel had a habit of taking in strays, and the remark from Merric meant that it was probably a battered soul, much like Kel's horse was, she was too kind to just leave them alone. He couldn't remember if he'd ever met anyone with as fair a mind set as hers. They studied in quiet, asking each other questions occasionally, Merric huffing because he had to move onto other work instead. They had settled into a complete quiet almost when a maid came rushing to their door, stopping and knocking on the open door politely.

"Yes?" Neal asked, eyes curious.

"Page Nealan, I wanted to inform you that we just witnessed your friend, Page Keladry and a new boy being brought to Lord Wyldon's quarters," she said, kneading her dress with her hands and then politely excusing herself.

They each cursed, getting up, leaving the new pages confused. "We'll be right back," Neal informed them as he stepped out first, the others following, leaving their work on the table.

"What did she think she was doing?!" Neal muttered as they walked down the hall.

"No doubt Joren causing trouble again," grumbled Cleon, his voice low and angry.

Roald said nothing but kept his mouth in a grim line. She really was off to a great start of the year. More than that, she had probably gotten into a fight again, and while he had no doubt that she could hold her own in any situation that didn't mean that he was all too happy about seeing her get injured or having to take punishment work. They halted as a group at the end of the hall that led to Lord Wyldon's office, waiting on Kel and whoever the page was to come out. As the door opened, Roald scoffed a little inside, of course the new page would be Owen, at least he seemed to have made friends with Kel pretty quickly, even if she didn't look too thrilled about the bruises she got from their acquaintance.

"Good evening your highness," Kel said, having rounded the corner to meet them, her face emotionless and polite, as if they had met at random, and not because she had gotten herself in trouble. He almost winced in pity at the gigantic black bruise spreading around her eye. He nodded gravely.

"What on _earth _did you think you were doing? I thought we solved all this last year!" Neal yelled, stepping away from their group and over to her, vexed. If he were cat he would've been hissing.

Roald listened as she explained herself, watching in amusement as Owen stood up for her, he had heart. "We," he almost faltered saying it, technically he could do nothing but stay in Neal's room and wait for them to come back, hoping that things had gone for the best, "have been trying to stop the hazing of first-years. And I believe I suggested that you study with our group."

Owen nodded, "But there was a _library, _your highness. A _big _one. I was just going to look."

Roald smiled a little, it was a pity that they had to be so careful, while Joren had never bothered him directly, not many people did for fear of a royal beating, and not from him, but that didn't stop them from bothering any of his friends, even if he doubted it had much to do with him, but more so with Kel. As they finished interrogating the two, they returned to their study, Kel promising to just fetch her books and not to get into any trouble on the way. Roald considered offering to go with her, but turned instead with the rest of the boys to go back to Neal's room, it wouldn't be right, it may seem as if he was playing favorites with his friends.

**A/N: **Some of you may recognize lines from the lower half, because I used the ones that were in the book. I didn't wanna change the dialogue when it was perfect to begin with. There's no need to fix something if it won't make it better. Just so everyone knows.

BTW, **SarahE7191** is my new favorite reviewer. She left a review I could respond to and she reviewed** both **chapters, even tho' she started after I had published the second chapter. Go you!


	4. Whore House

**A/N: **Those of you expecting Kel to change into a 'wonder woman' in this story, you can leave now. I'm keeping her as she is, no new fancy titles, no changing her to make her a more 'classical female heroine'. This is my favorite series because of how real Kel is, and I'm appalled at some of the stories that don't stay true to it.

Also, after this chapter, I expect a review from those who get to that point. Did you hate it? Like it? By the next chapter you'll have had a good sampling of my writing style as well as a small sample of the direction of the story. It really doesn't make sense to get 90 visitors for a chapter but only 4 reviews, once you've gotten past chapter two.

I have to admit, that while I wanted more of the minor characters in the book, I love how open ended it leaves the development for them on my part.

**Chapter 4: **Whore House

"You know, they do allow study groups to meet in the libraries," Kel remarked as she stepped into the stuffy room.

Roald didn't comment on it, but stood up to go lead the way anyway. Didn't the fiasco with Lord Wyldon just start because of a trip to the library? He supposed it didn't matter when it was a group of them, but couldn't help but wonder at the reasoning. Cleon and Faleron joined him as Owen skipped ahead of him, Neal staying behind with Kel, probably mourning the loss of company in his room.

They entered the library, finding a table close to the window and seated themselves around it, Owen wondering away from them to go look through the books, after all, the first time around he had never had the chance to make it all the way to it. Roald lifted his head and saw Kel and Neal enter, waving his hand in the air for them to spot where they were. Neal waved back and the two of them sat down, Kel next to Roald and Neal between Merric and Faleron. Cleon frowned a bit as Kel sat down, Roald catching the expression before it disappeared.

He pulled out his math work, wanting Kel to double check it, even if he was in a higher class than she, without a doubt, Kel had a mind for math. In the mean time he leaned towards Cleon across the table, and discussed with him the key points for an essay of theirs in history, giving him a list of key points that had to be mentioned in it.

"I don't understand why it matters," Cleon muttered, although he didn't think highly of the subject to begin with.

"So we don't repeat our mistakes, learn from our elders," Neal muttered as he flipped through the pages of a book.

Cleon rolled his eyes, as if they hadn't all been told that at the beginning of the year. He still didn't think he needed to write an essay over it. It was enough that he knew what had happened, barely at that, he was more concerned about the now. Cleon glanced at Kel, seeing how far done she was checking over the prince's work, wanting to put the essay away as quickly as possible and moving onto the math. He didn't know why, but for some reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since they parted the year before. Although he had bet against it, he was glad to see her return, even if he was a fourth year page and in his last year. At the very least he would be able to enjoy one more year in her company, even if he didn't understand why that meant so much to him.

Roald eyed Cleon over his essay, starting to form suspicions in his head, even if no one else, even the man in question, were to realize it. A small protectiveness, much like an older brother, gripped him. He wanted to give Cleon a scolding for wondering whatever he was, even if it was just a suspicion.

"Roald." He turned his head towards Kel, "it's perfect, as expected." She teased with a grin.

"Better safe than sorry," he replied as he began work on his own essay, watching out of the corner of his eye as she began to tutor Merric and Cleon, even if they had two different problems to deal with.

Their peaceful setting was interrupted by the clang of a loud bell, indicating that it was the end of the day and they were to return to their rooms. They bid each other good night, each heading to their rooms to finish off whatever work they had decided to slack on, and then going to bed. The hard training had yet to start.

Neal woke up the next morning, grumbling to himself but crawling out of bed anyway. He looked over his clothes and at the harness; he could almost hear his body screaming in agony, the aching muscles. He bit his lip and sighed as he lifted it over his head. As he finished dressing there was a knock at his door, he opened it to reveal Merric, looking as glum as he did and wearing the harness.

"It gets worse," Merric commented sourly, noting that Neal had only just put his on.

Neal gave him a forlorn expression before the two of them began their march towards Kel's room to fetch her for breakfast. It was only the second day and it would not do for her to be late to any more events or she'd have punishment work until the end of the year. They met Seaver on the way, and after a quick round of questioning discovered that he had been attending a funeral, as his friends offered apologies, he shrugged them off. He hadn't even known that he had been related to the woman until they had been invited to the funeral.

"That's a little odd, inviting people to a funeral, like it's a ball," Seaver commented as they resumed walking.

"Dark humor I believe is the word you're looking for," Neal remarked.

"Hey! Mindelan!" Seaver yelled, knocking on Kel's door, hearing muffled talking inside. "Who's she talking to?" he asked Neal and Merric.

"Oh, probably her maid," Neal said, "I don't know why she took her in but she did, yesterday, Gower's niece if I'm not mistaken," he explained as his friends continued to look confused.

Kel opened the door and looked at her friends glumly, "The dogs back."

Neal laughed and pulled her along with them, "Your misery makes my morning so much brighter."

"If it weren't for the added weight I'd trounce you," she retorted with a grin.

Seaver laughed, Kel just noticing that he was in their company, questioning him much like her friends had, going through a similar conversation with him as she tried to offer her condolences.

Faleron, Cleon, and Roald laughed as their younger friends trudged in, obviously feeling a little put off by the new weight. As Cleon teased them mercilessly Roald tried to assure them that everyone struggled at first when the new weights were added, even if he didn't think that Kel believed him, but that was probably just the perfectionist in her. After breakfast began training, they split up each with their respective years. Kel struggled through it, glad that she was at least practicing with Neal, someone who knew her well enough that they could keep a comfortable pace going.

"I hear the third day's worse," Neal complained as they walked towards the next practice court, his muscles screeching at him, wondering why he had given up the more comfortable scholars life he could have had.

"I just want to live through today," Merric said with a sigh, heading down the hill.

The third year's had been released a little bit after the two previous years, so he waited on the fourth years to get done, to join Cleon and Roald as they made their way back. Roald wiped the sweat off of his brow, his breathing heavy as he nodded his hello to Faleron, walking a bit faster to try and catch up with their friends. He jumped to the side a bit as Joren and his crowd barreled down the hill, he watched Kel like a hawk, wondering if he could create a mental shield around her. He winced and glared at Joren as he watched him as he passed Kel, thrusting his elbow back to hit her black eye. Watching her crumble a little bit they raced towards her, crowding around her a bit. They listened to a bit of the conversation that passed between her and Neal as they came closer, Kel glaring at him for the healing he had given her. He smiled as Neal told her it looked the same, he had shrunken the swelling significantly.

"Kel, we have to do something about him," Neal said his fingers twitching in an ache to want to heal her eye completely.

"Yes, stay out of his way. Joren's a page for just one more year, and that's what I mean to do," Kel replied sharply, standing up and letting her own hand hover over the bruise.

"She's right," Roald said, stopping beside them, wanting to help her as well, even if he knew better than to offer it. "IF she takes revenge, she's the one who will look bad." Even if it wasn't fair. Much like himself, she had certain limitations she was bound to that no other page was, if she wanted to succeed in the goal she had come to achieve. It really was a rotten situation, but at least she was making the best of it.

"So there," Kel replied, marching away from them.

"I wish she didn't have it so tough," Cleon muttered from behind them, watching as Neal sighed and raced after her.

"Joren really needs to have a lesson beaten into him," Faleron agreed, watching Joren walk into the next practice court and walking into the shed where the staffs were held.

"It's the lot she chose, coming up here like a trollop, the Mindelan family must be a mess of a noble's house," a fourth year commented from behind them, having watched the exchange.

Faleron and Cleon visibly tensed, clenching their fists and ready to throw down if the prince hadn't stopped them. He pulled each of his friends back by the shoulder. "Not now," he told them quietly, giving the fourth year a sour look, before pushing them down the hill. "There will be time later, without watch dogs around." Usually the prince wasn't the strongest advocate of violence, but at the very least if he couldn't fight to protect his friends, he could help them get away with it.

**A/N**: I noticed that in Squire, Cleon mentioned the fights they had gotten into over her, but never mentioned, so I figured that while writing this, I'd put in the treatment I'm sure her friends got for, well, being friends with her, and the fights they got into.

Hope you're enjoying!

**BTW, KEY TO KNOWING IF YOU LEFT ME A GOOD REVIEW**. I responded to it.


	5. Friendship

**A/N: **Just so you know, while I will try my best to mention all the minor characters, you'll figure out pretty quickly who my favorites are, they usually get more type time than the others. Once again, there are chunks of dialogue from the original plot line that were perfect as they were, and did not need to be changed. Obviously I did not write that myself.

I've decided to update again, today, just because I felt the last chapter was a little short, and instead of adding on to it, I'll update with a newer one. Tho', as one of my readers brought to my attention, I may need to revise it a little bit for smoothness.

**Edit: **I'm gonna ask for some help from the fandom. The next big section is a time skip until Novemeber, but I wanted to cover the practice in between. I'm very serious about accuracy, so I'm trying to find things to watch/read that would help me with that. I'm watching the jousting bits from A Knight's Tale, as well as the little practice he did before that. Also probably re-watching King Arthur, to see if I get some interesting things from that. I'll probably do some research on true medieval training and the like, even if the Tortall world is significantly different from real medieval history (I took a class on it a year back. Interesting stuff, I highly recommend it.) So, if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know!

**Chapter 5: **Friendship

Faleron glared in front of him as he watched Joren, fetching his own staff and pairing up with Kel, staff practice being intermingled between the older pages. He walked over to her as they lined up, her giving him a weak smile. As Sergeant Ezeko began to bark their routines, Faleron tested the strength of Kel's blow and block for the first few rounds, adjusting the way he hit and blocked so that while she would still get training, she wouldn't be driven to exhaustion by it, especially with the bruises she had already collected from Joren and his crowd.

He watched her curiously as her eyes went blank, her body falling into a rhythm of its own, relaxing with every strike. Then suddenly her eyes shifted behind him and she faltered, Faleron noticed too late and brought down the staff against her collarbone, watching horrified as she crumbled to her kness. "Kel! You didn't block it! Neal-"

Roald heard Faleron cry out and stepped out of line a tad to peer over the line of pages at them. Kel was on the ground, her eyes closed and her arm resting on her collarbone, slung over her shoulder. He felt the urge to go over and help as well, but knowing that Neal, already stepping out of line to go to her, would get there first, and that Lord Wyldon wouldn't allow them to fuss over her as it was.

Faleron gave Kel an apologetic look, still looking quite flustered, especially when he had tried to be careful. She gave him a weak grin before he walked off, after Lord Wyldon had re-arranged the pairs. He sighed as he trudged over to his new partner, noting who Kel was paired with and thanking the gods that it would be an easy 'opponent' for her to handle.

The staff session ended after what seemed like an eternity to Kel's friends, all of them fidgety about her bruise, asking her about it as they put their staffs away. Neal called attention to the dog resting at Lord Wyldon's feet. That was the dog that had been mentioned earlier, and now apparently the reason that Kel's attention had wavered. Faleron felt a little relived, even if not completely guiltless. After archery and riding was done with, Faleron fiddled with the clasps on his horses saddle, not sure if he was still okay with Kel.

"Kel, I'm still not sure about that catapult problem," he told her embarrassed, moving to lean towards her and against the rail that separate the stalls, "If I fetch it to lunch, would you take a look?"

"You didn't have to ask, you know," she replied, relief flooding through him.

"So, Faleron, you're friends with her now because you can have her whenever you want?" Garvey muttered.

Faleron growled, tested beyond his limits for the day and threw down his brush, launching himself out of the stall to teach the boy a lesson. He frowned as he felt Kel's arms around him, stopping him from beating the boy into a pulp. He struggled against her, forgetting that she was tired and in pain.

Neal and Roald had been watching from the entry to the stables, both fuming, Neal showing it more so than the prince, after all, there was a diplomatic image to keep. Seaver walked up behind them holding tightly onto the reins on his horse, their small group of friends slowly gathering at the entrance and heading towards the respective stalls of their horses. Roald watched Neal and Merric carefully, their tempers famous, but more worried about what Neal might get into, he could almost see the anger radiating off of him. He finished cleaning his horse and found Owen, waiting for the rest of his friends to gather up, watching as Neal stopped on the other side of the stable, having put all the items away.

"Joren is _so _pretty. Say, Garvey, are you two friends because you can have him?"

As if they had been waiting for a que, Kel's friend vaulted out of their spots towards Joren and his crowd, running to Neal's aid and also having been waiting for an opening to pummel them down. Roald's body had almost propelled him forward to join the fight, but instead he gripped Owen tightly, trying to keep him from entering the brawl. He watched as Kel tried to make her way across the tug of boys, wincing, his muscles twitching as he watched a boot collide against her bruised collarbone, her eyes rolling as she almost fainted.

A shudder passed through him as he watched the horses break out of their stalls, wading through the people to try and separate the mess. Kel had managed to find Seaver and Merric, pulling them roughly by the collar and letting them drop backwards behind her into a ruined stall and out of the mess, and then grabbing Cleon's arm to keep him from re-entering the brawl. Merric and Seaver crawled out of the way, breathing hard and exhausted, leaning against the posts that supported the stable. He smiled as his own gelding reached Faleron, pulling him by the arm, leading him gently out of the mess and to the sidelines.

Most of the pages hadn't made it out of the mess when Lord Wyldon and Sergeant Ezeko strode in from beside him with large buckets of cold water, throwing them onto the remaining pages. Roald sighed as they issued their orders, finally letting go of Owen and going to his own horse. He watched Kel with interest, her hands shaking, obviously angry, as they finished working on the stables. No one talked during the meal, and even classes after that were spent in silence. He sighed, realizing as he got to his room that because he did not share any classes other than morning training with Kel, and the other younger pages, which were separated anyway, he would not be able to see her for awhile, unless it was for a short time at the meals, and even then he still had to keep up his diplomatic duties.

Neal sighed as he plopped down into his bed, quite unsatisfied with the punishment work but glad that they had done at least a little something to fight back against Joren, admitted, it meant less freedom and less entertainment on his part, but Kel was worth it. If she wanted to succeed in her mad quest, she didn't need too much gossip floating around, he only wished that this particular fight could've occurred at a less public moment.

He heard a knocking on his door and stood up, opening it to find Kel, her face blank. He let her in but panic bubbled in his chest as she closed the door shut behind her. He watched her carefully for a moment, complaining that if the Stump were to catch her in here, especially when they had all the punishment work going on.

"You were sixteen last month. You're supposed to know better. Did you honestly think you were _helping _me down there?"

Neal paused for a moment, staring at her, slowly coming to a realization. For the first time in his time of knowing her, this calm, always composed, young lady, she was letting her mask slip. Admitted, he would have appreciated if it hadn't been when she was fuming and angry at him, but he was surprised and somewhat pleased at the change nonetheless. He almost laughed, but tried to keep it in. "Are you- Kel, the Yamani Lump- are you _yelling _at me?" he asked, his voice full of wonder, almost a whisper.

Kel gave him a sour glare, her hands fisted at her sides, "Yes I am! You didn't solve anything! You just made it worse!"

Neal sighed and dropped down onto his bed, stretching himself out and watching her carefully. He had an advantage being older, even if it made him odd as a page, he knew the way the world, court, worked better than she did. As far as her view of the world she lived in, it was quite naïve. "Maybe, maybe not. I think they'll reconsider, next time they want to start fights over your virtue," he remarked, hoping that she would understand and not leave him to do awkward explaining, after all, with all their other friends, they understood immediately, seeing as they had already gotten in quite the few quiet fights over it.

She looked genuinely confused, "What has my virtue to do with anything?"

Neal leaned over and ran his hands over his face, rubbing the back of his neck, wondering how to bring this to her attention. "I'm surprised they didn't try it last year," he told her, even if he had managed to hear snippets of conversations they had held, " Oh, I suppose they made dirty little jokes with each others, never mind that a _real _knight is supposed to treat women decently," he muttered, small flashes of his temper reappearing. He watched Kel shift from being aggressive to confused and a little withdrawn. "Maybe they thought saying you're a lump, and not as strong, and on probation was bad enough," he said. He had guessed long ago that this would eventually bloom into a bigger problem. He wasn't sure if the name-calling of that sort had ever bothered her, it hadn't appeared to, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for the new, upped level.

"Are you making sense yet?"she asked him, obviously not wanting to continue the conversation, but Neal had to make her understand.

"But you're still here," he said with a smile, proud that she had made it so far, "Now they're _really _worried. They haven't changed their minds about lady knights just because Lord Wyldon let you stay." He waited to see how she would react, to see if she had grasped where he was going. She hadn't.

"I didn't expect them to."

He sighed internally, "Well, so, they decided to try new insults today," he paused, biting his lip, "And talk of different kids of sex makes people crazy."

Neal wanted to bury himself in a well as Kel still struggled to understand where he was coming from. He dreaded the day that her female feelings would truly awaken, her world would take a sharp turn from the comfort and simplicity she was used to. Instead of elaborating more on the subject of the implications of it, what they were trying to spread around, he told her, "See, Kel, if all of a sudden everyone's getting into fights about your virtue, maybe the Stump will get rid of you after all." He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face once more, the finger combing his hair.

He watched as Kel's body froze over, she truly did have a one-track mind. Neal watched her think, her eyes dropping the Yamani mask for a second, revealing true worry. She finally stuttered out, realizing what the different reasons and implications were, trying to rationalize to herself that there was no way that it could happen. "I'm eleven. That's too young to be lying with men, Neal. Much too young."

'At least for a noble,' he thought as he healed a bruise on his wrist. He closed his eyes, wanting to get this conversation done and over with as quickly as possible. She needed more female friends to address this problem with her, but he felt like an older brother, a best friend with an obligation, "Facts don't matter with Joren and his crowd," he told her simply, thinking that the facts didn't really matter with anyone else that was in charge either. If she was too much trouble she'd be done with, and if she failed, who knew how long until the next woman tried for her knighthood. "Just gossip. Just making your friends angry enough to fight," he explained, "I reminded them that gossip is a tricky weapon, that's all. It cuts to ways."

He had to admit, he could pick his insults just the right way. Although he didn't expect quite that violent of an outburst from them, he began to feel fidgety with Kel watching him, obviously not happy with the end of the conversation. She chastised him again and he rolled his eyes, even if it was admirable, he couldn't let insults brush off as easily as she did, especially when it concerned someone he cared about. He stared at her carefully, wondering what their friendship might turn to as they got older. Neal brushed those thoughts out of his mind and hurried her out of his room.

Later in the evening, as they all sat down for their supper, Kel glared quietly at the rest of her friends, even if she had given the speech to Neal. The only one she did not give slightly snappy comments to was Roald and Owen, seeing as neither of them had joined the brawl. Roald felt it a little unfair, seeing as he would've been in it if it hadn't been for his status, he watched Neal roll his eyes, they looked at each other and he smiled wryly, it seemed that Kel had already given him a long lecture, as Roald had guessed she would. After supper, Kel returned to her room, quite grumpy and wanting nothing more than to collapse into bed, she found Lalassa sitting on a bench in her room, a hot tub waiting beside her, she had just filled it. The shy girl looked up at her, giving her a small smile as Kel's eyes filled with gratitude. She could ignore the older girls skittishness when she got a nice hot bath out of it. She was surprised when Lalassa initiated conversation.

"Milady, how are you feeling?" she asked, gossip traveling quickly around the castle, and her concern centering more around whether or not she had been hurt by the comment that Garvey had made.

"Tired, not looking forward to the next few weeks, a little vexed," she muttered, trying to expand on the answer as much as she could to see if she could keep a conversation going.

"His comment was pure vile, nothing you should fret over," she told her softly, having received many such remarks, and worse, herself. To her surprise, Kel snorted and chuckled.

"I can handle the insult, just a little upset that my friends had to go make it worse, thanks to that I've caused us quite a list of chores and limitations until Midwinter," she groaned as she stretched in the bath.

Lalassa looked at her in confusion, wondering where she got that kind of strength, to not let things bother her. "You have caring friends," she commented finally, returning to her sewing.

Kel stared at her wall, before dipping her head under the water. 'I do, don't I?' she thought with a smile, and then came up for air.

**A/N: **I am looking sooo forward to the chapters coming up. When Kel gets her wake up call about developing these lovely babies that we women call breasteses. Just because Owen's oblivious, doesn't mean anyone else will be.

I left my cell phone and my MP3 up at the college I go to, so there may not be as quick as updates for a bit, seeing as I get most of my inspiration walking around listening to music. Sorry in advance for a delay in updates, but hopefully this double will make up for it!

**EDIT: **Thanks to **xxTunstall_Chickxx **for pointing out my typo's in the chapter!


	6. Temper

**A/N: **So, I went back and started reading the Song of the Lioness again, just because I wanted to bring Alanna back in at some point, at least mention her, and maybe get some other views, and I realized something.

Jonathan was a dick.

Roald is so much better adjusted and just, wow. The difference between them is amazing, at least how they behave publicly (seeing as we never got to see much of Roald's private side.)

But, it has given me some material to work with as far as Roald's character goes. After all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, even if it rolls down the hill, and Duke Gareth is like, so cool. I just now notice how much Pierce's style has changed as she goes through the books.

I tried to make this one smoother, as some of my readers suggested, I'm not sure how I did since I can't tell the difference. ._.

**Chapter 6: **Temper

Kel woke the next morning early, as she always had, taking care not to wake Lalasa, although she knew that she couldn't keep absolutely quiet, and her maid preferred to wake up early either way. Lalasa was still uncomfortable about sleeping later than her, even if Kel thought it mad to expect her to wake the same time she did, shortly before dawn. She stretched in her night gown, and yawned, sliding it off and fetching her clothes. After dressing herself in a loose pair of breeches and a shirt, she withdrew her practice glaive from the rack on the wall, spinning it in a circle around herself to make sure that she had enough room to do her practices.

She took several calming breaths before beginning her practice, starting with the glaive raised above the ground, parallel to her hips, as she slid one leg forward and straight, keeping the other bent behind her. She gently raised the weapon with her right hand, so that the tip pointed downward, her other hand clutching it further down at the base. Kel swept her leg over, doing a spin, smoothly bringing the glaive around with her, swooping it low and then back up as she turned 180 degrees. She stopped the glaive and as she stood, turned her arms so that the curved back of the blade sliced upwards as she lifted the end of it. Satisfied with her control of the weapon, she began one of the simpler patterns that still went through most of the basic steps, speeding up every time she completed a cycle of it.

Kel drew to a sharp halt and stood, realizing after a moment that a pair of eyes rested on her back. She turned to see Lalasa watching her, she was pleased to see not quite as terrified of it as she had been the first time.

"Good morning Lalasa," she said with a nod, counting between breaths to steady her pulse.

Lalasa smiled and nodded, moving past Kel now that she was done, and opening the large shutters to her room. The sun had risen considerably since Kel had started her practice. She was about to comment on something to her maid when white blur hopped in through her window, followed by a herd of sparrows. She stared at the figure sitting happily at her feet with dismay.

"You're quite pleased with yourself aren't you?" she asked Jump, who simply wagged what he had left of his tail in return, she heard Lalasa muffle a giggle in the background.

"Here milady," Lalasa said, walking up to her and handing Kel the bundle of clothes she would be wearing for the day. Kel nodded her thanks and went to dress herself.

As she emerged from behind the screen a smile lit up her face. She watched quietly as Jump ran in a circle around her room, the sparrows clinging onto his back. More than that sight amused her, it warmed her heart to see Lalasa smiling at the display, and slipping him treats for every round that he could keep the sparrows on.

"I'm sure you will get tired of me asking," she mentioned to Lalasa as she slipped her shoes on, "but could you ask Gower to take him up to Daine?"

"I think he likes you," Lalasa replied, but promising to let her uncle know.

Kel scoffed but smiled regardless as she stepped out of her chamber, leaving Lalasa to concentrate on whatever she wished to do, which more than likely would be sowing. She was very good at it, Kel had noticed. She knew women in her family that could make art with their work, but Lalasa had skill and talent, a natural feel for it. If she hadn't been more concerned about being able to make it to her knighthood, she might have envied the older girl for her skill.

She walked to Neal's room, knowing that their punishment work from the night before had left him tired, and the continuing punishment would make him reluctant to get out of his bed. She banged on the door until an angry and disheveled Neal popped his head out, almost getting his forehead smacked by Kel's fist.

She smiled, "Good morning Neal. Did you sleep well?"

He simply grunted at her with a sour look before opening the door fully to let her in. She bit her lip to hide a smile as Neal seated himself on his bed, pulling his shoes on, pausing for a second, and then dropping backwards onto his bed, attempting to curl back into it.

"Look on the bright side," Kel said as she grabbed one of his arms, pulling him back up, "you won't have to eat any vegetables for awhile."

Neal gave her a blank look, but let Kel haul him up to his feet. "I don't need them," he mumbled, dragging his feet as he walked out the door, using his hand to cover up a yawn.

They reached the mess hall and filed glumly into the line to receive their bread and water, quickly searching out their friends in the back and seating themselves. The entire hall was quiet except for the occasional chatter. Some of the pages stole angry glanced towards their table, specifically aimed at Kel, although she didn't notice, having to concentrate too hard on eating her meal and trying to enjoy it, even if she knew she couldn't.

"Well, at least it's not bad bread," she said, trying to cheer her glum friends.

"I like my real food," Owen muttered with a frown, having chosen to sit with them even if the prince was at another table.

Kel bit the inside of her lip, reminding herself that her friends did not need any more scolding on her part, even if it was they who had brought it upon themselves. They shouldn't have tried, no, succeeded to start a fight over something so trivial. As far as she knew, most of the weren't concerned with that being a reason for her to get booted out, and as long as her friends kept themselves out of trouble there would be no problem, she had forgotten to mention that to Neal the night before when they had talked.

"It'll pass before you know it," she replied instead, draining her cup of the water it held and grabbing another loaf of bread from the table. "Eat, you'll need it for the practice courts."

The boys grumbled and tried to chew down their food, most not eating more than a loaf or two before stopping. The bell rang through he castle and they rose to head towards the next chapter of their day.

"I think I'm going to faint," Seaver mumbled, his stomach still protesting to its emptiness as they reached the practice courts. Esmond agreed, rubbing his own belly and waiting for all the pages to gather for their hand-to-hand combat training.

"Maybe if someone hits me hard enough in the stomach it'll shrink, and I won't be hungry anymore," Merric commented wistfully, turning around towards Neal. "Try it."

Neal stared at him and attempted to give him what he had asked for, his hand faltering in the air and tapping more than hitting him. Merric's stomach let out a growl.

"Now you've just aggravated it," Merric said with a frown.

Kel shook her head but couldn't deny that it might prove difficult fighting un-nourished, but knights did that all the time, what if food was scarce? Or a battle took too long, or there was no choice but to fight fatigued. She would take it quietly, and pray that she wouldn't faint as Seaver had mentioned. It may have been okay if a boy had done it, but if she were to, she might be sent straight home, and it would leave a bad reputation for the next girl, if there was a next girl, who wished to try for her own knighthood.

"Line up!" a crisp voice bellowed out.

The pages neatened into a straight line as Lord Wyldon came marching up; in his hand he carried two round disks. There was almost a collective shudder from the pages.

"Two more weights," he explained, even if most of the pages had already come to the horrifying conclusion themselves.

A few pages groaned, most bit their lips or clenched their fists to keep from complaining; Lord Wyldon was in no mood for any back-talking. Kel watched their training master give the first boy he passed the weights, the Shangs passing the rest of the weights, or tossing them, to the remaining pages. Kel caught hers and mentally sighed. And here she thought the punishment work would have been bad enough. With a grim face she slid the two new disks, into the openings and slots on her harness, designed for the placement of weights.

At the end of training, Kel and Merric headed out before the others, having finished first and wanting to get food into their bellies as soon as possible, even if Kel's features did not show it. Her friends remained behind, Owen, Esmond, and Seaver following her, trying to keep up with her brisk pace even with the new weigths added.

"It's fine enough if she wants to ruin her life as a girl by coming here, but she's causing too much trouble," an older page remarked to another one as they put up their saddles on a small rack that had been put together to hold such things until the stables were repaired.

"I don't understand why she worries about her 'virtue' anyway, as if any man would even pay to lay with her," the other commented back, sneering as he said it.

Neal's temper flared even in his hunger, as he clenched his fists, ready to pounce, the Prince held onto his sleeve tightly, his face somber but his eyes burning with anger. "Let it be," he said calmly, they did not need any more fights, not now.

He had almost wanted to pounce on the two himself, because of the banter and blame that came from the two pages. His need to be diplomatic meant he had the chance to listen to all sorts of conversations, not all of them as kind as he might have wished for them to be. After a morning of hearing nothing but rude comments about one of his friends, and he did not have many, he was starting to feel vexed, even the hard morning practice not riding him of the feeling.

Cleon and Faleron walked over to them, having finished with their horses, confused as to why the Prince had such a tight grip on Neal. Faleron almost asked, but the prince shook his head, not wanting to discuss it within distance of the people who had made the remark. Both Neal would be further goaded to the point he lunged at them, or his two other friends would try and pummel them as well, and he only had two hands.

He led the group away from the stables, needing Cleon to help drag Neal away from them. They spotted Joren's group ahead of them, and Cleon tightened his grip around Neals shoulder, half to keep him there, and half to keep himself there. They slowed down and tried to go as far around them as they could.

"If women knew their place, this type of mess wouldn't happen," Vinson remarked loftily.

"Some whores aren't even worth the money you put into them," Joren said with a chuckle.

The four of them froze, Cleon's grip on Neal so strong that if he were to pull he could dislocate his shoulder. Their group closed in, and Joren opened his mouth once more to say something, when a fist collided with his cheek. The two boys went down. Joren's eyes were wide, a small moment of shock passed through the group as they watched Prince Roald tighten one hand around Joren's collar, beating down against him with his other.

Joren kicked him in the stomach, Neal rushing forward to catch the prince as he was flung off the ground, steadying him as Cleon and Faleron went after Vinson and Garvey. Roald pushed away from Neal, who was too awed move from his spot. Four on three would have been an unfair fight anyway, he would think to himself later. His eyes caught movement at the top of the hill and he quickly slid in and pulled his friends back by their collars. "Move!" he whispered and nodded his head towards the two people starting to appear over the edge of the hill.

They made their way quickly until they reached an empty court yard, sitting down and heaving as they surveyed the damage. Roald could feel a large bruise forming on his stomach, and an equally painful bruise above his eye. Cleon had a busted lip and an aching knee, having it almost popped out of place. Faleron seemed undamaged except for a few random bruises that would fade quickly and a bleeding nose.

Neal smiled, then laughed, walking over to the prince first, shaking his head as green fire spread from his hand to Roald's bruises, watching them fade. "Now that, your highness, was the most beautiful thing I have seen in awhile."

Roald grunted at him and buried his face in his hands as Neal healed his other two friends, who stared at the prince, realizing what he had just done, the rush of the fight having passed. He was obviously bothered by it, now that he had time to think. Faleron and Cleon joked, and congratulated him, before heading off ahead of them to their meal. Despite Neal's attitude, he was rather observant. He smiled and touched Roald's shoulder, causing him to look up.

"If it helps, you are not the first," he told him sternly, knowing all too well from the stories that his father and his father's friend had told him about King Jonathan's page years. "And you will not be the last, everyone has their limits." Roald gave a dry chuckle before taking a deep breath, he would worry about what he had just done later, at the very least, no one would notice they had been fighting.

"Thank you Neal," he said standing up, "I didn't mean to wallow."

Neal scoffed as they began to walk towards the mess hall themselves, "You my dear friend, you brood, wallowing is more Kel's thing."

**A/N: **Shazam. Cake. I wanted to so bad write the chapter that dealt with Kel's monthlies, 'cause mine just hit and I feel like I could write that chapter better when my cramps are tearing me apart. lol

While I don't think Roald went out of his way to fight, and tried his best to avoid it, everyone has certain sore points, and I do believe that once or twice, if it could be kept down low, that even he fought. While he's very mature for his age, and good at being diplomatic, he's still human.

Hardest part of this chapter was thinking of insults. Haha. I wish I had a bigger bank of them that would apply to back in their day.

Also, my request still stands, if anyone has any knight movies or something that I could watch to see some more training things and the like, it'd be appreciated. I just don't want to sound like an idiot when I describe some of the more technical things.

Thanks to** xxTunstall Chickxx **once more for pointing out my little typoes. :D


	7. Royalty

**A/N: **More Roald development, I won't go into too much detail yet, there will be a time for that, but a glimpse into his thought process.

And those of you thinking, "Well, he's not old enough to be thinking that."

Or when we later get into the more romantic things, back then, females married as early as 11 years of age, and you were a man at around 15, well, in the sense of what you could do. I won't ever mention their specific ages if that bothers you, but just to give some piece of mind to those it does rub the wrong way.

**Chapter 7: **Royalty

Roald returned to his room that night brooding. Even if Neal had healed his bruises he could almost pretend they were still there, reminding him. For a second he was grateful that Lord Wyldon had put a temporary ban on study groups, he didn't think that at the current moment he wanted to be with anyone but himself. He was worried, and not in the mood to talk about it. Roald opened the door to his room and slipped inside, it was like any other pages. True, in the past as the prince he could have requested any type of special privileges, a bigger room, a different place for his room, but he had told everyone involved firmly, that he did not want any special treatment. It wouldn't be fair, he wouldn't even have earned it, it was simply because he had been born into the right family. And that didn't always guarantee that someone was worthy of such treatment, Joren and his pack being prime examples.

Until now, he had never truly paid attention to Joren, admitted, they had been in the same year, shared many of the same classes, and knew he was skilled with a sword, but those were general observations anyone would know. Until Kel had come along, Joren had actually seemed decent, he hadn't even minded too much sitting with him and his friends. He sighed as he dropped down onto his bed, after pulling his clothes off and changing into something looser and more comfortable. After today, he did not think he would be welcome at their table anymore, not that he had ever wanted to go, but diplomacy and keeping face required he sit with everyone. He did not want to be accused of favoritism or abusing his position, as his father had in his page years.

Roald bit his lip, he wasn't sure how many people truly paid attention him, maybe no one would notice if he decided not to sit with Joren and his friends. His stomach plummeted for a moment as he realized for a moment how secluded he truly was. Maybe he was worrying too much, after all, other than realizing his status and being polite to him, he didn't think that many were exactly friends with him. A shadow that passed along them, a man they would eventually live, and some die, for. He smiled sadly and thanked the gods for his friends. It was a miracle that he and Faleron had even started to become friends, seeing as he was always reluctant to put himself forward, and when Neal arrived, despite being a new page, it had been one of the biggest relief's in his life.

As a child he had been quite withdrawn, not because he had truly wanted to, but because he had it beaten into his head. After all, his father helped cover up something highly illegal, with rumored relationship with the Lady Knight, taking her in as his squire, the adventures he had gone, the disrespect for authority, and the desperate attempt by all the other people at court to make pull him off the path and nail him down onto that of a proper princes. That is how he had begun his page training. He had spent a year in personal isolation, unable to make too many true friends because of his politeness, of course, there were always the status vultures, but he could hardly count those as friends. Then he had befriended Faleron, after having had a minute slip in temper.

Roald had begun his second year as a page with the small comfort of Faleron's friendship. Even the page he had chosen to sponsor, while obviously grateful for the service he had provided, quickly made other friends and moved to a different social group. The winter came, and then April, and the arrival of Nealan of Queenscove. He was tall, two years older than Roald even though he would be going into his first year. He would not be a full page just yet, the year having passed already halfway, but he would be training with them because of his age. His first judgment of Neal was that he was insane, not even a full day into his year and he had rounded himself up punishment work by getting into a battle of wills with Lord Wyldon. Roald had advised him to be careful, and Neal had told him to lighten up. They started studying together.

And now. Now he had Kel. She understood his position, much more than anyone else did, even Neal, even if it may just be because she was a girl. The way she took care of him, making sure to never put him in a position where he would have to choose between what he wanted and royal duty, although, he was sure she never meant for her war on hazing to go past her own efforts. Although his original interest in her had been almost purely diplomatic, even if he believed women could be warriors, he felt it would only be right that he show interest in her, after all it was a hot debating ground, and he had never expected to truly count her as a friend. He had never really thought about it either, just how close he might allow these people to get to him.

Of course, there were the others, Cleon, Merric, Seaver, Esmond, and Owen, but, he sometimes wondered whether or not he was just a shadow in their lives, like he was to most.

"Damn it," he whispered, tugging at his black hair.

He had lost his temper today, he was lucky, oh so lucky, that Neal had managed to pull them away before they had been recognized by any of the adults, that wouldn't have ended well for him, even if he was sure that Lord Wyldon would give him the same standard punishment he gave every other page. He needed to watch himself better, make sure a slip up like that didn't happen again.

Even if it had felt so good.

It was the first Sunday that they would be spending trying to repair the stables, and Kel was not happy about. She didn't mind the hard work, nor did she mind the punishment, she knew that it had been rightfully deserved and there was no getting around it. What she did not like was the assignment given to her by one of the older pages of the group that had been put in charge, a fourth year.

She was to climb a ladder.

Kel's hand shook as she touched the rough, wooden step of the ladder. Her gaze traveled upwards towards the loft, where she would be helping a few other pages with internal roof repairs, one of the main poles had crashed during the fight, which after a few days of rain and general stress, had started to let the right side of the roof collapse inward with the support gone. The pole had been put back up but there was damage to the surrounding area as well as the window which had been squished.

"Are you all right?"

Kel squeaked and jumped, clutching onto the side rail of the ladder as she turned around, her eyes wide. She met the concerned gaze of Roald, who had also been assigned to work up in the loft. Kel looked down and fought a blush, she was embarrassed, she wasn't' sure whether to be relieved or not that it was one of her friends that had witnessed her feminine reaction and not a stranger.

"Yes," she answered, turning around to face the ladder, starting her slow climb, her legs shaking as she lifted herself onto it, now only supported by the ladder. She shuddered and bit her lip, slowly lifting her other leg to the next step, pulling herself up with shaking hands.

Roald smiled and patted her leg, causing her to look down; he gave her a comforting look. She was already pale and not even a few feet off the ground. "I promise to hold the ladder, and catch you if you fall," he told her.

Kel gave him a weak smile and told him, "I'm too heavy for you."

Roald shook his head and held onto the ladder, giving her quiet encouragements as she climbed up, one shaking leg at a time. Sometimes he wished he had her courage. After she had made it all the way to the top, she crawled away from the latter to the far end of the platform, where for the moment she could not see just how far off the ground she was. Roald climbed up the ladder quickly and confidently, standing up and off of the ladder.

"Shall we?" he asked her, with a grin, holding out a hammer for her to take.

She nodded, the vomiting feeling she had gone, as they went over towards the window to begin pulling the old nails out, re-aligning it, and nailing it back into place. In an effort to be kind, the prince offered to let Kel hold the nails while he pulled them out, but she shook her head and told him that she needed to work on living with her fear of heights, even if she had to stop and turn around after every nail she ripped out of the old frame.

After an hour the roof was done and fixed, the boys filed down from it. Roald paused and stopped before going down himself. "Would you prefer I went before or after you?"

She pondered over it for a minute, she didn't want to be last, too much of a possible audience, but, she was scared about falling. Seeing her struggle, the prince spotted Cleon and shouted out to him. "Hold the ladder for a moment would you!?"

Cleon nodded and walked over; steadying the ladder with his strong arms, Kel grumbling at them, muttering about having to work with her fear, and that it was cheating. "You can practice vomiting some other time my flower," Cleon told her as he waited for her to start inching her way down the ladder, "Come on my sunshine, it wouldn't feel right to have a beautiful pearl like yourself be late to our supper feast."

Kel giggled and began her slow climb, switching from looking at one of her feet to staring into Roald's eyes, shamefully glad of the reassurance her two friends were giving her. She was being weak, and she hated it. She let out a grateful sigh as she reached the ground, forgetting that Cleon was behind her and leaning back, surprised to feel him standing solidly behind her. "Oops, forgot," she said with a sheepish grin, her face ghost white.

Cleon shook his head and promised her he didn't mind. "We'll go ahead," he informed Roald as the two of them headed out of the stables.

Roald nodded and slid down the stairs, half jumping off the end of it, heights never having been a problem for him. He stared after them as he strolled lazily through the stall.

"Your royal tactfulness," Neal said with a mock bow, "how are we feeling today?" he asked, having finished his own duties.

Roald gave him a half-grin, "Thinking."

Neal raised his eyebrows and gave him a look, "You're brooding, thinking is an enjoyable activity that leads to many great changes and advances in our society. Brooding makes you miserable."

Roald nudged him with his arm and shook his head. "Just worried about my temper," he admitted, glad that no one else was around anymore, all of the pages already in the mess hall.

"What temper? You want temper issues talk to Merric, he's full of problems. We may need to buy him a muzzle," he mentioned thoughtfully, sounding as if he was seriously considering the option.

Roald shook his head, "He doesn't have to behave."

Neal stopped him and turned to stand in front of Roald, looking straight into his eyes. "Neither do you."

Before Roald could protest Neal had already turned around and changed the subject.

**A/N: **Hopefully still making an attempt to be semi-smooth. I'm trying. Haha.

About my chapter length, I try and vary it up. So the next chapter will be a little shorter than this one.  
It's easier on the eyes for those that are reading straight through, to change the lengths up. If you'll notice my word count goes up and down in little waves, even if this one had more words than I intended for it to, but I doubt you guys mind. ;D

**Also, **to keep my idea bank fresh, are there any particular characters you really liked but you thought didn't get enough highlight?

Any situations and scenes from the Page novel that you really wanted more elaboration on, or a view from another persons point of view?


	8. Gratitude

**A/N: **I've added Qatar, Bermuda, and South Africa to my list of visitors from around the globe! God I love it. I'm just waiting on someone from Finland to pop up. –waves her flag-

Is there a glitch going around? I'm getting reviews and they're not showing up on the review page, I don't mind too much as long as I get to read them and respond, but I had a review send me one, and not even the short cut link work to it because it told me, "It doesn't exist yet so you can't respond to it." And that bothered me. ._.

**WE'VE HIT 50 REVIEWS! **As a celebration you guys get a chapter early!

**Chapter 8: **Gratitude

Kel and Neal glanced at each other before stifling a laugh. It was finally the end of the probation on study groups, and they had just been informed that some diplomats and their families would be dropping by the castle. Not that it had anything to do with the pages, but it had much to do with Roald. As the prince, he would be required to attend. He had just told them, while waiting for the others to arrive, that he would be required to attend the meetings as well as entertain the daughter of one of the diplomats, something he was not looking forward to. He smiled wryly at them, "I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself at my expense."

Kel hushed and gave him a half-smile, "Sorry Roald."

Roald shook his head, he hadn't intended for her to actually feel bad about it, but joking around came hard for him with most people, well, other than Faleron and Neal, who was still laughing.

"Did the king tell you to play nice?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

If Kel hadn't been in the room he might've thrown something at him. He made a face and leaned back in the chair he was occupying. "He should have known I would have done it without his commanding me, after all, in many cases a part of arranging a successful deal is sealed by the family or friends around the diplomat in question. I play that part," he explained. 'Even if I don't want to.'

It felt wrong to him, to seem like he was maybe flirting with another women, when he was already engaged to someone, ignoring the fact that he had never even met the young lady and knew nothing about her other than her name. It was a lovely position, being prince, all the riches in the world, and domination over people, and yet no say so in his own life. "It's a lot of fuss, but it's an important job."

Kel smiled reassuringly at him, a nobles life was filled with enough etiquette and rules but a princes, even if he was a male and had it easier than his sisters would, had a much more secluded life style. "You know, no one would think less of you if you voiced yourself sometime," she tentatively suggested, unsure if this might be a sore subject for him.

"But that wouldn't be what proper princes do," Roald replied with grim humor.

"It's good you behave properly. See. If Neal were any worse he'd be behaving like a commoner," Merric said from the doorway, Cleon, Esmond, and Seaver, chuckling.

"And what's so bad about being a commoner?" Kel asked with a frown, unusually opinionated. But, she had just told Roald that he shouldn't close himself off to other people, she couldn't give a bad example to him after her 'preaching'.

Merric seated himself at the foot of Neal's bed again and shrugged, "They're dirty, uneducated, most of them steal, a lower level people."

Kel almost glared at him, but kept her face Yamani smooth. She knew she would regret the words she would utter later, and quickly considered whether or not she should walk away after saying it or stay. "You know, Mindelan became a barony only two generations back. When it comes down to my roots, I'm common born. Is that how you think of me?" she asked calmly, not putting emphasis on any of the words in her sentence.

There was a small hush in the room, even Faleron who had just walked in with Owen were silent, staring at her. It was true, most of their families were old book nobilities. You were made noble by the king if he felt the family worthy enough. Perhaps they had done a great deed, sacrificed a large amount for their kingdom, or in many cases, donated large sums of money. Heroics is how even long ago a common man could be allowed to attempt to claim his knighthood.

Kel didn't mention that most of them probably had some commoner in their family. Instead, she stood and gathered her books, dodging around her friends as she left the room, walking towards her own. For some reason, she suddenly felt like studying with the quiet Lalasa, even if he mousiness and skittishness annoyed her. After all, she was a friendly girl, and that her maid could not talk to her and be around her comfortably and happily bothered her. But now, even that quiet awkwardness would feel better than the damage she had left behind her in the other room.

The boys watched Kel walk out the door, unsure of what to say or think. Most of them didn't spend hours contemplating the position of nobles, how they achieved it, just that they were, and it was their birth right to be 'above' society, better regardless of the type of men they were, or women. "She's right," Roald said at last, breaking the silence in the air.

"I never realized," Merric said. For the most part he had little to do with commoners other than what he heard from others, growing up other than the maids he had stayed 'close to home'. He had never even thought about the possibility that new nobilities could be created like that. "My head hurts, I don't want to think about it," he said finally, pulling out his math work and then realizing with a curse that Kel had left.

Neal patted him on the back, the air in the room relaxing, "You've doomed yourself, now live with it."

They studied in a library like quiet, filing out of the room one by one as they finished the work they had finished. Roald was the last to leave before Merric, who was waiting for everyone else to go. He fiddled nervously with his bright red hair, twirling it around his finger. He stopped at the doorway, looking both ways and turned around to face Neal who raised a curved eyebrow in question. He stammered for a second.

"You don't think she's mad at me, do you?" he finally got out, looking down at the floor, and anywhere else that wasn't Neal.

Neal's heart went out to his younger friend. He wasn't heartless, and he knew that even to him Kel's friendship was a corner stone of strength. He laughed and stood up, patting Merric on the shoulder with a comforting hand. "She cares about commoners, and just wanted to make a point, she probably won't even remember it by the end of today," he said reassuringly.

He knew Kel well enough to know that while she didn't agree with the treatment her peers gave others around them, she knew well enough not to hold it against them. It was a common belief, to them, a 'right' belief, and she couldn't change that, it is how they were raised. In addition to that, it wasn't as if her friends were going out of their way to make the lives of commoners miserable. She just felt like bringing something of interest up for her friends to chew over. Kel wasn't immature enough to behave any less of a friend towards Merric because of his comment.

"Trust me, now off, I need to get ready for bed," he told his red-headed friend, pushing him out the door and shutting it.

From behind the closed door he heard a muffled, "Thanks Neal."

Roald walked lazily, too busy thinking so he didn't notice Faleron standing behind a corner, running into him. He blinked confused for a moment before realizing he had run into someone.

"Steady," Faleron said with a concerned look, he quickly hid it with a smile. "Come with me."

Not having anything better to do he followed, forgetting completely that they were to start heading to their rooms, and you weren't allowed out in the halls after a certain amount of time. He followed his friend blindly before realizing that they were going outside. He tried to protest but Faleron silenced him.

"Excuse me, you're not allowed to be going out," a guard said, stepping in front of them.

Before Roald could say anything Faleron responded, "The prince needs some fresh air."

Roald stared at his friend confused, just what was he doing? He was about to tell him that this wasn't fair, it shouldn't matter if it was him, but the guard took a look at him, nodded, and then let them pass, Faleron pushing the reluctant and slightly aggravated prince ahead of him. Once they had gotten past the ear shot of the guard he glared at him.

" 'The prince needs some fresh air?' We're out after hours, it doesn't get more special privileged than this," he said, wondering why his friend would ignore one of the things he hated to do the most.

Instead of answering Faleron smiled and tugged him forward. They had reached the training grounds, Roald quietly glaring at him. His quiet friend walked to the shed, opened the tiny lock on it with ease and walked in, grabbing two staffs out of it and tossing one to Roald, who caught it easily, his body reacting before his mind did.

"You block first, start low," he said as he stood to face him, the prince didn't have time to argue as Faleron lifted his own, hitting down forcing the prince to block.

Every time Roald tried to open his mouth for an argument Faleron sped the pace up a little, so that he would have to concentrate on defending himself instead of talking. After a few attempts at talking he finally gave up, relaxing as they took a comfortable rhythm, his mind going blank as his body answered each of his friend's blows automatically.

"Feeling better?" Faleron asked out of nowhere, after suggesting they switch.

Roald looked confused for a second as he swung his own staff to hit his. "Oh." He said realizing what he was referring to, his mind having gone blank. He smiled despite his want not to, and shook his head.

"You've spent a week brooding, and yes, we," he meant Neal and himself, "can tell."

Faleron and Neal had talked after the day building the stables. Neal's method wasn't working, he was the one that usually had the talks, he had a better way with words than Faleron did, even if the difference wasn't much, he also had the age working in his favor. Although the prince had tried his best to not let the subject bother him, hiding it from those he felt might notice, he had failed. His friends watched him when he was on his own, after being separated from anyone to talk to. They hadn't liked the frown and the troubled expression that covered his features.

"Well…" the prince responded, trying to think of anything he could say that might indicate otherwise. He thought of nothing.

Instead of trying to keep him talking, Faleron smiled and sped up their pace again, switching to offense so that he could control it better, switching up where he hit so that the prince didn't have the chance to brood. By the time they had finished, the sun had gone down, and the air was getting chilly, fall was on its way. Faleron took their staffs and placed them back in the shed, locking it and walking back towards the castle, thanking the guards as they passed. They walked in quiet, until they reached the point where they would separate to go to their rooms.

"Thank you."

Faleron punched his friend lightly in the shoulder. "You're not just you anymore, Roald. You've got us, and new friends. We won't care if you loose that mask of yours every now and then. As much as you and Kel love your facades and your masks, we like to know what you're thinking."

Roald watched Faleron walk away, wondering what he had done to earn himself such good friends, even if he couldn't think of a reason he shouldn't. Instead, he shook his head, smiled, and went to his room.

Merric lay awake in his own room, eyes fixed to the ceiling. He rubbed his arm absent mindedly and popped his shoulders. He had a lot to think about, well, not necessarily a lot, but heavy topics to him nonetheless. He liked Kel, but wasn't sure what to make of her view on commoners, and her mention of her own status. It bothered him to think that he had, in his opinion, insulted a friend of his, and worried that because they had gotten off on the wrong foot to begin with she might hold it against him. He was hot tempered and raised like most nobles. Merric closed his eyes and groaned, unless he settled the issue he was not going to get any sleep tonight.

Despite Neal's reassurances he climbed out of his bed, and quietly opened his door, sliding a piece of cloth in the door to wedge it to keep it from closing so that it wouldn't make any noise when he returned. He glanced around to make sure no one was walking the halls and snuck out, making his way to Kel's room. Once he had found it, he paused, unsure of whether or not he might be waking her, though, judging by the light coming from underneath her door she was still up. He knocked on the door his heart racing, he didn't like apologizing.

Kel heard it and opened it, her face open with confusion. She tilted her head, her face blank as she saw Merric. A small silence passed between them before he asked her, "Are you mad at me?" His head never lifted from staring at the ground at his feet, fidgeting a little but trying not to show it.

Kel laughed, relief spreading through him, "No. I'm not, I let my own temper get the best of me. You've done nothing wrong."

Merric smiled and lifted his head. "I know I didn't," he replied, trying to regain some sort of composure, he was already embarrassed enough, "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Kel hid a smile, appreciating greatly that he had been concerned but knowing that she should let the subject drop, her friend had a man's pride, even if he had a boy's body. "I think I hear a night watch coming," she said instead, giving Merric an escape route to take, which he did gladly.

She closed her door and returned to her desk, Lalasa meekly asking who it was.

"A friend."

**A/N**: Okay, I know I'm going to get some comments about the conversation here so let me explain my reasoning behind it. Most nobles think that commoners are really less than nothing, and while I doubt Merric would change his entire theology because of a comment, he appeared much kinder than other nobles towards commoners by Lady Knight, and I doubt he would have come to that conclusion by himself.

Although we've had lots more coverage on Merric than some of the other smaller characters, I had a hard time trying to decipher how he might react to certain things. Although he's got a temper and then some, I think he has a soft core, worried about other people, especially his friends, opinion of him and their standing with them, specifically Kel's. I got that mainly from that one scene in Lady Knight, after the refugees got taken and he said, "Sorry for failing you," or something along those lines. Even tho' Wyldon and Neal responded, I'm pretty sure the comment was directed directly at her so. Yeah.


	9. Attention

**A/N: **So. Life sucks. Lol. And I'm sick. It's why the update's a little late, and why the chapters so short.

**Chapter 9: **Attention

Kel's head dipped as she struggled to stay awake. Luckily she had managed to wedge herself towards the back of the classroom, where she wouldn't be immediately noticed, even if it was hard not to, being the girl, and sitting next to the prince and Neal, the number one trouble maker. She was insanely tired. Her body felt weak and heavy, the added weights that Lord Wyldon had decided to give them stressing her body to its limits, even if the stables had been finished, she still had her own punishment work to finish off, and extra work from all her teachers for not completing her assignments properly, but no one had escaped that wrath. Even the prince had gathered himself some punishment from his lack of attending to his homework.

They were currently in the demonic hands of Master Oakbridge, the visit from the diplomats that Roald had mentioned was approaching, and although there would be no big ball or any other special gathering for it, Oakbridge had wanted to remind them of the proper way to behave themselves, especially in the light of recent events, which meant extra work in his class, and much more practices. Roald wasn't thrilled by the prospect either, he had already decided that he would spend as much time locked away in his room as possible to avoid coming into contact with any of the visitors.

His eyes traveled to his right side, as he felt something rest against his shoulder. Kel had completely nodded off to sleep, eyes closed, mouth half open as she breathed. He reached over and nudged Neal with his foot. As Neal looked over he nudged his head towards the sleeping Kel, unsure of whether to wake her immediately or to let her doze for a second.

"Let her sleep, lecture is almost over anyway," Neal whispered to him, his green eyes kind as he watched Kel sleep, she did too much.

"Page Nealan! Care to explain to me why you are talking while **I** am talking?!" Master Oakbridge bellowed out.

Neal made a split second decision. "I was simply too excited about all these bows and manners we're learning! I was just wondering if we had any more just as exciting ones left to learn!"

Oakbridge mouth formed a tight line and his hands clenched at his sides. He ordered Neal to go up to the front of the class as they went through every etiquette lessons they had had since the beginning of the term. Faleron and Merric, who had looked back at the commotion, had spotted the sleeping Kel and quickly realized how sacrificial Neal's usual type of outburst had been.

Roald stopped paying attention to the front of the class, instead concentrating on Kel. She looked exhausted. And she had a reason to be, the extra training she put in, her new maid, and her constant battles with her fear of heights. It had to be a rougher life than any of the boys there had. He admired her, even if she was younger than him. That level of determination was something he envied, even if many might mistake him for having determination. It was more that he was whipped into his position as the crown prince.

Kel shifted against him and a lock of hair fell from behind her ear to where it hung across her face. Roald reached over with his other hand and brushed it back, looking around the classroom to make sure no one had seen after he had completed the action. He watched out of the window, as people began to leave the courtyard, signaling that it was almost time for supper and then personal studies. He nudged Kel with his shoulder, watching amused as her eyebrows came together and her mouth turned into a frown, obviously not happy with having to wake up.

"Kel, class is almost over, unless you would like for me to carry you," he whispered, making sure that no one else could overhear them.

Kel jumped up at that the slightest bit, realizing who the voice belonged to. Only her Yamani training kept the embarrassment from slipping onto her face. She had fallen asleep on the prince. "I'm sorry your highness, I didn't mean to doze."

To her relief he chuckled quietly to himself, "It's all right. We're all exhausted. I'm surprised more of the pages haven't followed your example."

As he finished the big bell rang, a few pages waking up from their own little naps, the others groaning as they got up, hungry and tired. Neal almost pranced back to their little table in the back and smiled at Kel's sleepy face. "Good morning sunshine," he said with a laugh, glad to be the one fully awake and her half asleep, revenge was sweet.

Kel grumbled at him as she rubbed her eyes, shooting him a glare, "You'll pay for that." She yawned and stood up, gathering her things and walking past him to join Seaver and Esmond who were waiting for them at the door, Merric, Cleon, and Owen having gone ahead to reserve their table for them. Faleron hid a smile as he turned to sit on a table, waiting for the prince and Neal to gather their things. They headed out of the room together, a decent distance behind the others.

"So, Roald, you looked rather comfortable back there," Faleron commented, keeping a grin from his face.

Roald's eyes narrowed a fraction, something that only two of his friends would've been able to catch. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I think it's rather cute myself," Neal added, clapping Roald on the shoulder.

"You're not making sense yet," he grumbled, feeling a little uncomfortable. He knew they could only be talking about Kel. But, he didn't know why their teasing him about it would make him uncomfortable.

"You're opening up to someone other than us," Faleron said with a smile, putting his hands together and staring at Neal wistfully, "Our baby's growing up."

Neal clasped his hands around Faleron's and sniffed, "It's time to let him go."

Roald laughed, feeling relived for some reason. He cuffed each of the boys over their heads as they turned into the hallway that led to the mess hall. "That's a biological fallacy for one, and I'm too handsome to have come from either of you."

They entered the mess hall and seated themselves, finding Kel nowhere; she had probably gone to change into her dress. They just hoped she wouldn't be late, it would be the fourth time since she had started the new year. This night, Roald sat with their group, noting that the pages they had sponsored, other than Owen, had moved onto other friend groups, leaving more room at their table. Finally the doors opened, Kel was less than a minute late, but she was addressed by Lord Wyldon regardless and given punishment work. She nodded, fetched her lunch, and dropped into the space between Owen and Cleon.

"Fell asleep again?" Neal teased, noticing the slow way that Kel blinked.

Kel narrowed her eyes and turned to Merric, "Could you stab him for me, please?"

Merric turned and jabbed Neal with his loaf of bread. "At least I'm kinder than the Stump. He's trying to torture you with all those heights." Neal remarked, grabbing his own loaf of bread and defending himself with it.

"No, he's just trying to help me get over my fear," Kel replied evenly, "to make me a better knight in the future."

"Because some day you will have to save a burning bushel of hay from a top of a loft," Neal said rolling his eyes. "It's exhausting you."

"He's not trying to torture me."

"Would you like to go ask him?"

"Lord Wyldon-,"

"A little bit of both?" Roald suggested, tired of hearing the argument. It had been the topic of almost every lunch argument that Kel and Neal had, since the brawl at the stables, Kel standing up for Lord Wyldon, and Neal brining his conspiracy theories to the conversation.

"Well that's just backwards, see, his true motives-," Neal began before Owen chucked what little was left of his roll at him.

"I figured you wouldn't want to waste your food but I'm done," Owen told Kel cheerfully, who in turn ruffled his hair as a thank you.

"Ruffian," Neal replied gruffly, turning back to his food.

"Are you all right," Cleon asked, looking down at Kel, watching her eyes close as she struggled to stay awake.

Surprised by the question she turned her head up towards him, she nodded, forcing her eyes wide to look awake. "Of course, just a little more tired than usual."

Cleon nodded and swallowed the suggestion he was about to make. For a moment he had wondered what it would be like to let her rest her head on his shoulder.

**A/N: **Cleon is not crushing on her yet. But at some point he had to start realizing she WAS a real girl. I'm just showing the little steps as to how that may have occurred. It'll still be Kel/Roald tho', so no worries about all the Cleon mentions.

Anyway, I'm out, next update probably won't be for another few days.


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